Last evening 20h30 something or some noise spooked Monty in the garden & he started barking, only he didn't stop not at all I tried ignoring, rewarding Milly for her good behaviour (which she understood very quickly), as it continued & he was getting more & more stressed I tried distraction .... everything I followed the standard bed time routine & no doubt we woke all the neighbours He finally calmed down & stopped about 1am out of sheer exhaustion. This morning he was fine, a little barking but nothing unusual until just now, for a reason unknown to me he's off again. I'm trying to c&t in the second of silence but they are so few & it's not having any effect. Any suggestions most welcome before I alienate myself from the whole neighbourhood who already have me classed as the mad English woman
I had a short barking episode similar to what you are explaining last year although not for that prolonged length of time. It turned out we had a couple of rats living under the shed (the joys of living by farm land). As soon as pest control had delt with the problem she has never barked in the garden again. Maybe your boy has seen some kind of rodents and it has spooked him. I also bought Turid Regaas's booked titled Barking although Mabel is not a prolific barker, she can be nervous and I wanted to identify different types of barking and ways I could address any issues. Good luck.
Oh dear, he really did get himself wound up I think, like young children , pups can get themselves into an almost hysterical state, even forgetting what they were barking for in the first place . I agree with Claire , it could well have been some wildlife in your garden , bearing in mind that Monty would smell it as well as hear it . The book recommended above seems to be very good and could be worth you buying , good luck.
Perhaps... we've got moles atm but that's not new to him we've had them since they arrived. I've just look into the book - the summary says pointless rewarding the silence - so seems I was doing that wrong I think I may have to get the book
Kate I think you're right, he forgot the reason & was just beside himself! The book's downloading as I type...
Nothing to add on the good advice from Claire and Kate. I haven't reading read the Turid Rugass book on Barking but have read her others and found them very helpful. Enjoy the read and see how you get on in the next few days. It's not unusual for puppies to 'get bees in their bonnets' at times about a noise and then forget all about it a few days later.
I bought that book and others by this author, all very well written and straight forward to understand. You can get them on EBay much cheaper. Good luck! x
Thank you for the book recommendation @Pilatelover. I read it this morning whilst at the hairdressers Well written & easy read. Monty barked a bit this afternoon so I went to see what he was telling me, looked around showing I'm cool with whatever it is, I walked back indoors & he stopped & followed me ok he did go back to bark a few mins later but same process worked again so fingers crossed onto a winner solution here.
@M&M16 so glad it's helped. If I remember rightly someone once recommended the book on this forum, at the time I didn't need it but as I'd read the one on body language I went and bought it, along with the other book about pulling on the lead. As it happens I've ended up needing all three . I love the fact you read it at the hairdressers. When I have my hair cut they always offer me a celebrity type magazine then say "sorry,you always bring your own books about dogs!!"
@Pilatelover Fortunately we haven't had another 'mad' barking session but I'm definitely seeing results on the other barking. Dog book, cook book, sailing book or in fact any book over a celeb' mag' any day for me
I bought a helium balloon yesterday for a friend's birthday today. Jake ignored it while I carried it around until we got back to the car, but once it was in the lounge and he had spotted it, was having a right bark at it. I went over to the balloon and touched it and told him it was ok and it wasn't scary and he did stop. Briefly. Then barked again and I did the same and he settled down. This am with the patio doors open, the balloon was moving around and he really didn't like it. I gave up in the end and moved the balloon upstairs!
@M&M16 Ive never understood why some people are drawn to celebraties. The other day I had a long chat with Quentin Wilson, (he has presented car programmes in the past) OH said you've just talked about dogs (he was walking 4 little ones) food and the weather. You do realise he's famous. "And"I replied . Although the funniest was when we were Ambleside two years ago and OH whispered. "There's Les Dennis" my reply in a really loud voice "What the real Les Dennis" needless to say he gave me a dirty look I presume for not recognising him. It's a standing joke in my house.
I had a previous dog who didn't bark at anything at all except hot air balloons! She'd chase them round the garden & into the field as they flew over
It sounds like this is another book to add to my list! I was going to suggest going and having a look - maybe taking him out to see there's nothing there to worry about, too. Then I read that it had worked, so hurrah! Celebs baffle me. We have a few come here skiing and lots of people fawn over them. J had a very well-known actor in his class a few years ago and didn't have any idea who he was. There's also a very well-known ex England cricketer who comes out; I've skied with his wife a few times, who is lovely, and then we met up and all got very drunk together on several evenings. I know nothing about cricket so we just talk skiing and other random stuff. They're just people at the end of the day, and probably appreciate some conversation out of their usual field of interest. I know I don't want to be talking about my work when I go on holiday!
